Profile

Abbas Maleki was born in Tehran in 1957. He achieved his undergraduate and masters studies in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. He has a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the High University for Strategic Sciences and in1998 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Kazakh Academy of Sciences.

He holds the post of Associate Professor at the Sharif University of Technology and has taught in such diverse subjects as Economics of exhaustible Resources, Change Management in MBA's programs, Iranian Foreign Policy, the Islamic Revolution and its Roots as well as Iran and its Neighbours. Other current Activities include: Director General of the Institute for Caspian Studies (IICS), since 1997; Associate Researcher, International Security Program, Belfer Centre for Science and International affairs, Harvard Kennedy School since 2006; Cultural Advisor to the Chancellor of Sharif University of Technology since 2004; and Chairman of Research Centre for Scientific, Technological, and Industrial Policy Making at Sharif University of Technology, 2008.

Previous employment includes: Advisor to the Chairman of Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting, 1997-2002; Director of the Department of Crude Oil Pricing, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), 1982-1985; Director General of the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) at the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1985-1989; Deputy Foreign Minister for Research and Education, in Iran's Foreign Ministry, 1989-1997; Advisor to Iran's Foreign Minister, 1997-2002; Advisor to the Iranian Minister for Culture and Islamic Guidance, 1997-2000; Advisor to the Head of Majmae Jahaani Ahlul-Bayt, 1999-2002; Adjunct Professor at the Department of Economics, International Studies, and Public Administration at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), 2001- 2002; a Member of the Board of Trusties at the International Institute for Energy Studies (IIES), 1994-1998; a Member of the Office of International Relations Advisor to the Islamic Republic of Iran's Leader, 1997-2003; a Member of the International Relations Committee in Iranian Studies Foundation, 1998-200;, the General Manager of the Islamic Culture Publishing Organization, 1986-2001; and Editor-in-Chief for Central Asia and the Caucasus Review, IPIS, 1991-2002.

Previous activities include: Advisor to the Director of the World Bank (in Middle East and North African Affairs); Member of the Persian Language Development Council, Tehran; The Islamic Republic of Iran's Plenipotentiary Ambassador; Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Foreign Policy; Editor-in-Chief for The Iranian Journal of International Affairs; Editor-in-Chief for Amu Darya: The Iranian journal of Central Asian Studies; and an Honorary Member of the Payvand Association, Tajik Society of Cultural Relations, Dushanbe.

Professor Maleki has published widely on matters of strategic thinking, Economics, International Relations, Iranian Foreign Policy and Iranian gas and oil policies. He has also published and presented extensively, both in Iran and abroad, on the Caspian Sea and Region, Central Asia and the Caucasus as well as Islam and Iranian culture.